hey guys, have a hell of a thing ive got on my hands. I'm based in florida.

heres the back story, im half owner in a house with my mother in altamonte, she had a boyfriend she met at her job that moved in, things were good for a few years, i introduce him to firearms and such as he had been around them as a kid but had never owned one as an adult. since they were dating for a few years, i lent him 4 of my pistols (g17, 92FS, sw 642, kahr CM9) so that he could shoot them when he took his other guns out to the range with his kid. on the basis that they were still mine and when i returned back to the house they went back in my safe. (mind you im down here in kissimmee, helping my elderly father who has kidney failure and needs help driving to dr's appointments). well his kid moved in (they originally lived in palm bay), and was good for about 2 years, and then got into drugs and being violent towards his father and threatening my mother(he kicked a wall, stabbed himself with a knife in the upper chest, found 15 homemade bongs in the woods after they moved out, ya know, model citizen). so kid gets caught with drugs and paraphenalia. kid is out of house in jail and then boys ranch and keeps VOP'ing . anyways, things start to go downhill, and im still down here in kissimmee helping my father, guy moves out, kids never welcomed back. was going to get my 4 guns from him since me and him were still on good terms. well he all of a sudden dies in a car accident(wasnt wearing seatbelt, massive head trauma, closed casket) on the way to an attorney that me and him share (i was existing client that introduced him since the kid was having legal troubles).

so another part of the info is that the mother of the now deceased guy doesnt like my mother at all, no love loss on each side. and she and the father of the deceased are now in posession of his whole firearms collection in palm bay where they live. i politely asked the attorney to ask her for those guns, and apparently she is playing hardball due to guilt by association(since she doesnt like my mother, but yet has no beef with me). add to the fact that i dont have the serials of those 4 guns(i didnt record them since at the time the relationship was great and everything seemed peachy), but ive since then cataloged my safe. 2 were bought privately thru here and FGT, one was bought from shoot straight apopka(already called them and they are going to look up in their files), and the revolver has been in the family for over 10 years).

so my question is, how do i go about getting guns that are legally mine that they are threatening to sell to pay for his funeral costs they have incured. his estate is in probate right now in the state of FL and CT. do i need to file a stolen gun report with seminole county or palm bay in reguards to him/his sucessors. im already working on getting the serial number from the 4473 from shoot straight. do i need to contact the local ATF office in reguards to posession ? in the end i just want my 4 guns back that were wrongfully taken and they are being an ass about returning.

Report them stolen?

The nasty part may be proving ownership.

Can you?

Reporting them stolen would be filing a false police report.  They were not stolen.

How is it that his estate can't pay his funeral expenses but there are probates in two states?  That  makes no sense.

In any case, file a formal claim with the estate in the state he was residing in, for the guns or their value.

Its not theft, period.  One of the annoying things about the Legal topic on AR 15 is how everyone thinks every dispute is "theft".

The executor of the estate can legitimately assume that all property found in the possession of the deceased is estate property unless known otherwise.  

That's why the correct response is to file a formal claim for the property with the executor.

Unless you can produce a bill of sale or other legal proof that you owned the firearms in question, you may be screwed.
Never lend a firearm, and if you do make DAMM sure you have the serial number and bill of sale someplace safe.

It's not theft.

Get serial numbers, write a demand letter (or have an attorney do it for you), and then file a replevin action, if you get no love.